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Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence?
    Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope?

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26 for the Lord is your security.
    He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.

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26 Those who fear the Lord are secure;
    he will be a refuge for their children.

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Prologue

There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.

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15 Where then is my hope?
    Can anyone find it?

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11 For I have stayed on God’s paths;
    I have followed his ways and not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from his commands,
    but have treasured his words more than daily food.

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17 Yet I have done no wrong,
    and my prayer is pure.

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A Call to Holy Living

13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.

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“Remember, O Lord, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly.

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17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.”

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12 For I assisted the poor in their need
    and the orphans who required help.
13 I helped those without hope, and they blessed me.
    And I caused the widows’ hearts to sing for joy.
14 Everything I did was honest.
    Righteousness covered me like a robe,
    and I wore justice like a turban.
15 I served as eyes for the blind
    and feet for the lame.
16 I was a father to the poor
    and assisted strangers who needed help.
17 I broke the jaws of godless oppressors
    and plucked their victims from their teeth.

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I will never concede that you are right;
    I will defend my integrity until I die.
I will maintain my innocence without wavering.
    My conscience is clear for as long as I live.

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15 God might kill me, but I have no other hope.[a]
    I am going to argue my case with him.

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Footnotes

  1. 13:15 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads God might kill me, but I hope in him.

Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”

Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. 10 You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!

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Job’s Final Protest of Innocence

31 “I made a covenant with my eyes
    not to look with lust at a young woman.
For what has God above chosen for us?
    What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?
Isn’t it calamity for the wicked
    and misfortune for those who do evil?
Doesn’t he see everything I do
    and every step I take?

“Have I lied to anyone
    or deceived anyone?
Let God weigh me on the scales of justice,
    for he knows my integrity.
If I have strayed from his pathway,
    or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen,
    or if I am guilty of any other sin,
then let someone else eat the crops I have planted.
    Let all that I have planted be uprooted.

“If my heart has been seduced by a woman,
    or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife,
10 then let my wife serve[a] another man;
    let other men sleep with her.
11 For lust is a shameful sin,
    a crime that should be punished.
12 It is a fire that burns all the way to hell.[b]
    It would wipe out everything I own.

13 “If I have been unfair to my male or female servants
    when they brought their complaints to me,
14 how could I face God?
    What could I say when he questioned me?
15 For God created both me and my servants.
    He created us both in the womb.

16 “Have I refused to help the poor,
    or crushed the hopes of widows?
17 Have I been stingy with my food
    and refused to share it with orphans?
18 No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father,
    and all my life I have cared for widows.
19 Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes
    and the needy with nothing to wear,
20 did they not praise me
    for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?

21 “If I raised my hand against an orphan,
    knowing the judges would take my side,
22 then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place!
    Let my arm be torn from its socket!
23 That would be better than facing God’s judgment.
    For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?

24 “Have I put my trust in money
    or felt secure because of my gold?
25 Have I gloated about my wealth
    and all that I own?

26 “Have I looked at the sun shining in the skies,
    or the moon walking down its silver pathway,
27 and been secretly enticed in my heart
    to throw kisses at them in worship?
28 If so, I should be punished by the judges,
    for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.

29 “Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies,
    or become excited when harm came their way?
30 No, I have never sinned by cursing anyone
    or by asking for revenge.

31 “My servants have never said,
    ‘He let others go hungry.’
32 I have never turned away a stranger
    but have opened my doors to everyone.

33 “Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do,
    concealing my guilt in my heart?
34 Have I feared the crowd
    or the contempt of the masses,
    so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?

35 “If only someone would listen to me!
    Look, I will sign my name to my defense.
Let the Almighty answer me.
    Let my accuser write out the charges against me.
36 I would face the accusation proudly.
    I would wear it like a crown.
37 For I would tell him exactly what I have done.
    I would come before him like a prince.

38 “If my land accuses me
    and all its furrows cry out together,
39 or if I have stolen its crops
    or murdered its owners,
40 then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat,
    and weeds instead of barley.”

Job’s words are ended.

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Footnotes

  1. 31:10 Hebrew grind for.
  2. 31:12 Hebrew to Abaddon.

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